In the music
- It was a landmark year for jungle. Goldie's Metalheadz stable ran the underground drum & bass scene. Seminal releases included Doc Scott's Drums '95 and Alex Reece's Pulp Fiction.
- Wu-Tang unleashed their masterplan: turning one crew into individual platinum artists. Out of the Clan came a series of incredible RZA-produced solo albums including Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Links, GZA's Liquid Swords and Method Man's Tical. With RnB's commercial dominance on the horizon, never again would hardcore hip hop be so dominant.
- Tricky painted a difficult yet beautiful picture of UK living with his debut album Maxinquaye. A former member Bristol's Massive Attack, the MC's solo vision fused twisted hip hop beats with his own blunted rhymes.
- TLC were the perfect fusion of smooth RnB, street hip hop and girl-band sex appeal. Their 1995 global hit Waterfalls helped drive the TLC album sales to a massive 11 million. The group's off stage antics, including Lisa Lopez' trial for arson, threatened to derail them but their success continued and they helped make RnB a global phenomenon.
- In reggae, Shaggy's Boombastic was a rare UK and US No.1. Its popularity was helped by global exposure from a jeans advert.
- Free jazz innovator Don Cherry died. The trumpeter was noted for his collaborations with Ornette Coleman and his solo work. He was the step-dad of Neneh Cherry.
